Shirt collar



R. 0. KENNEDY SHIRT COLLAR April 8, 1947.

Filed June 14, 1944 V Merv/6307 I Rwwdfia'/Z@1an@ FY Patented Apr. 8, 1947 N'l -oriric= SHIRT COLLAR Richard Oakley Kennedy, New York, N. Y.

Application June 14, 1944, Serial No. 540,230

6 Claims.

This invention relates to shirt collars. It has long been recognized, and has been p OVe y extensive test, that the fold line of a collar is its weakest part as respects wear. Heretofore many efforts have been made to improve the wear resistance of a collar at the fold line. Thusfor instance it has been proposed to Weave the collar iabricwith a thinner strip where the fold line comes, on the theory that the greater flexibility thus provided would increase the life of the collar. However, none of these prior efiorts appears to have been really successful and most collars are still made from material of uniform weave. On the other hand, it has been observed that if the facing of a collar is made of very heavy material, for instance a multiple ply interwoven'fabric, the life of the collar as respects wear at the fold line is increased, but this, as a solution of the problem of retarding wear, has heretofore been considered impractical since, when a collar is made in the usual fashion with a backing, a lining and a facing, the employment of such a heavy, multiple ply facing fabric makes the collar too heavy for acceptance by the trade.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide a collar of acceptable external appearance and weight, and at a reasonable cost, but having greater resistance to wear at the fold line than collars made in accordance with prior methods. Other and further objects and advantages of the invention will bepointed out in the following more detailed description and by reference to the accompanying drawings wherein Fig. 1 is an elevation illustrating a collar embodying the present invention, the collar top being Referring to the drawings, the numeral l designates the top of a collar, the top being attached in usual manner to the neckband 2, which in turn is sewed to the shirt 3. In accordance with the present invention the collar top (in which the fold line occurs when the collar is in use) consists of but two layers of material, a facing 4 (Fig. 2) and a backing 5, no interliner being employed. The backing 5 may be of any usualv textile fabric customarily employed for this purpose, ordinarily being a single ply woven fabric of any suitable weave structure. The facing d, in accordance with the present invention, is a multi-ply woven fabric, as illustrated in Fig. 3, having an outer ply comprising warp yarns "l interwoven with weft yarns 8. The yarns employed in this outer ply are textile yarns of the type customarily used in the facing of a collar and such as to impart an acceptable appearance to the exposed surface of the collar top. Usually these yarns are of fine cotton and are interwoven in a broadcloth weave.

The inner ply of this facing fabric which is united, during weaving, to the outer ply, by binder warps 9, comprises warp yarns l0 and filling yarns H and I2. While the warp yarns I0 and filling yarns ll of this ply may be like those of the outer ply, and may be woven in the same weave pattern and with the same degree of fineness, it is preferred, for this inner ply, to employ warps l9 and weft yarns ll of somewhat larger diameter than those in the outer ply. The filling yarns l l of the inner ply, as illustrated, alternate with the filling yarns l2, the latter being synthetic yarns of a type such as customarily employed in fused collars of the type disclosed for example in the patent to Liebowitz No. 1,968,409, July 31, 1934, the yarns l2 being initially non-cementitious but having the inherent property of being made cementitious. These yarns l2, as suggested, for example, in the Liebowitz patent just referred to, may be made from a cellulose derivative such as cellulose acetate, or they may be thermoplastic yarns which may be rendered cementitious solely by the influence of heat and pressure and which do not require the use of solvents to activate their adhesiveness. For example, resin yarns such as more fully described in the patent to Hilberg No. 2,233,477, March 4, 1941, or yarns of similar type, may be employed.

While in Fig. 3 the synthetic yarns l2 alternate with the textile filling yarns I I, it is contemplated that the recurrence of the synthetic yarns may be at greater or lesser intervals than as illustrated in this figure of the drawings. Moreover, it is contemplated that instead of using synthetic yarns in the filling they may be employed as a portion at least of the warp yarns of the inner ply of the facing. Likewise a portion of both warp and filling. yarns may be of the chosen synthetic material.

Whatever weave structure be employed and whatever the specific character of the synthetic yarns incorporated in the inner ply of the facin these synthetic yarns forming a part of the structure of the inner ply of the facing constitute a source of adhesive which becomes available during the fusing operation to unite adjacent parts of the collar.

The facing and backing may be assembled in accordance with usual practice in making collars and connected by a sewed seam or scams 6 (Fig. 2). After the facing and backing have been assembled and united, the collar top is turned in the usual way, thus providing inturned margins 4 and 5 (Fig. 2) of the facing and backing respectively, such inturned margins directly contacting each other. After the collar has been otherwise completed in accordance with the usual practice,

it is fused in an appropriate way, dependent upon the type of synthetic yarn employed in the facing. Such fusing causes the synthetic yarns of the inner ply of the facing cementitiously to bind the inturned margin 4 of the facing to the bodyof the facing. This adhesive union of the margin and body of the facing produces a border M which is substantially stifier than the body of the collar, this border forming in effect a frame for the collar and affording substantially the same added stiffness, particularly at the collar points, which has heretofore been attained in some types of collar by the introduction of special inserts of stiffening material into the collar points.

Ordinarily those portions of the facing and backing which lie within the borders of the inturned margins 4 and 5 are not united during the fusing operation, the amount of adhesive material contained in the yarns ll being inadequate to fuse the facing directly to the single ply backing the heavy facing material providing the requisite stiffness for a soft or semi-soft collar. For greater stiifness the collar may be laundry starched. However, if a fully, self-stiffened collar be desired it is contemplated that by introducing a larger percentage of synthetic yarns into the inner ply of the facing or by the use of larger synthetic yarns, the fusing operation may be caused to fuse and permanently unite the facing and backing together throughout the entire area of the collar, as illustrated in Fig. 4, where the fusion of these parts is diagrammatically indicated at l5.

In describing the structure specifically illustrated in Fig. 2, reference is made to the fact that those portions of the facing and backing which lie within the border of the inturned margins are free from each other, not being united during the fusing operation. In thus referring to these parts as free from each other, it is not intended to indicate that they may never adhere as by laundry 'starching, but only that they are not fused and permanently united by the cementitious inclusions in the facing plies.

While certain desirable embodiments of the invention have been illustrated by way of example, it is to be understood that the invention is broadly inclusive of any and all modifications falling within the scope of the appended claims.

1. A foldable shirt collar comprising a top which, in use, has a longitudinally extending fold line, said top including a facing consisting of multiple ply interwoven fabric of substantially uniform thickness and texture throughout and whose outer ply is of fine cotton yarns interwoven in a broadcloth weave appropriate to constitute the exposed surface of the collar top, the inner ply only of the facing comprising yarns, some at least of which are of fusible material, the top a1- so including a backing of material relatively thinner than the facing, the inner surfaces of the facing and backing being directly opposed without any intervening liner, and means uniting the facing and backing.

2. A foldable shirt collar comprising a top, which in use, has a longitudinally extending fold line, said top including a facing and a backing whose inner surfaces are directly juxtaposed, the backing being a single ply textile fabric and the facing being a multiple ply interwoven fabric of substantially uniform thickness and weave structure throughout and whose outer ply is of textile yarn appropriate to form the exposed surface of the collar, the inner ply only of the facing comprising regularly recurrent synthetic yarns which are initially non-cementitious but which have the inherent property of being made cementitious.

3. A foldable shirt collar comprising a top, which in use, has a longitudinally extending fold line, said top including a facing and a backing, the margins of the facing and backing being turned in and directly contacting each other, means uniting said inturned margins, the backing being arelatively thin fabric and the facing being a relatively heavy multiple ply interwoven fabric of substantially uniform thickness and weave structure throughout, the outer ply of the facing being of textile yarn appropriate to pro vide a collar of acceptable external appearance, the inner ply only of the facing including synthetic yarns which are initially non-cementitious but which have the inherent property of becoming cementitious, the synthetic yarns of the inner ply cementitiously bonding the facing directly to the backing.

4. A shirt collar comprising a liningless top which comprises a facing and a backing whose inner surfaces are directly juxtaposed, the backing being a relatively thin textile fabric and the facing being a relatively thick, multiple ply interwoven fabric whose outer ply is of fine textile yarns interwoven in a broadcloth weave appropriate to form the exposed surface of the collar, the inner ply only of the facing comprising synthetic yarns which are initially non-ceinentitious but which have the inherent property of being made cementitious, the margin of the facing being turned in so as to provide two thicknesses of the facing material at the edge portion of the collar, said two thicknesses being cementitiously united by interfusion of their synthetic yarns those portions of the facing and backing which are bordered by the inturned margins being free from each other.

5. A shirt collar including a, top which consists of a facing and a backing, and means uniting them, the margins of the facing and backing being inturned and directly contacting each other, the backing being a single ply fabric and the facing being a multiple ply interwoven fabric of substantially uniform'thickness and weave structure throughout whose inner ply only comprises yarns which are initially non-cementitious but which have the inherent property of being made cementitious, said latter yarns cementitiously uniting the inturned margin of the facing to the body of the facing those portions of the facing and backing which are bordered by the inturned margins being free from each other.

6. A shirt collar comprising a top which in use is folded along a longitudinal line, the top consisting of a facing and a backing, the facing being of multiple ply woven fabric of substantial uniform thickness and weave structure throughout, including the region of the fold line, the facing and backing being united by stitches along their margins, the margin of the facing'being folded to form two plies, means adhesively bonding said two plies of the margin of the facing, thereby to form a stiff frame for the collar top, the facing and backing within the frame being free from each other.

RICHARD OAKLEY KENNEDY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

Number 15 Number Australian May 16, 1941 

